CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the first top 25 home series since 2024, the No. 9 Virginia baseball team (18-4, 4-2 ACC) will play host to the No. 24 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (16-5, 3-3 ACC) for a three-game set.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX | ACC Network (Sunday)
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday – 6 PM
Wake Forest: RHP Blake Morningstar (2-2, 7.13 ERA, 24.0 IP, 12 BB, 30 SO)
Virginia: LHP Kyle Johnson (Season Debut)
Saturday – 4 PM
Wake Forest: RHP Chris Levonas (2-0, 1.75 ERA, 25.2 IP, 8 BB, 51 SO)
Virginia: LHP Max Stammel (2-0, 4.37 ERA, 22.2 IP, 9 BB, 18 SO)
Sunday – 4 PM
Wake Forest: RHP Troy Dressler (3-0, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 6 BB, 29 SO)
Virginia: RHP John Paone (1-1, 4.79 ERA, 20.2 IP, 5 BB, 22 SO)
LEADING OFF
- Following an adventurous pair of midweeks, Virginia will return to ACC play on Friday to open a three-game weekend series with No. 24 Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
- Entering the weekend, Virginia is averaging 10.1 runs per game, which ranks 11th in the country and sixth in the league behind Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Pittsburgh and Louisville. Overall, UVA has scored the fifth-most runs in the country at 223.
- The power surge has been powered by 42 home runs through the first 22 games of the season. The 42 dingers rank fifth nationally and second in the ACC. In 2025, the Cavaliers did not hit their 40th home run of the year until the 38th game.
AGAINST WAKE FOREST
- In a series that dates back to 1894, Virginia and Wake Forest have met 180 previous times, with the Demon Deacons holding a slight 90-88 advantage over the Cavaliers.
- Virginia is 43-28 all-time against Wake Forest in Charlottesville, including winning the last seven series held at Disharoon Park.
- The last time the two teams squared off was the 2024 season, when UVA took two of three from Wake in a series that was highlighted by a 16-10 Virginia win in the series opener and a dramatic come-from-behind walk-off victory for the Cavaliers to claim the series.
- This weekend series is the first top 25 showdown at Disharoon Park since No. 23 NC State took two of three from No. 10 Virginia in 2024.
ON THE MOUND
- To open the weekend, Kyle Johnson will make his season pitching debut. The much-talked-about left-hander went 8-5 with a 5.66 ERA in 34 appearances across the last two seasons at Duke.
- Max Stammel will go on Saturday. Over the first five starts of the season, Stammel is 2-0 with a 4.37 ERA in 22.2 innings with 18 strikeouts. In his start against the Tar Heels, Stammel tossed six innings of one-run ball to pick up his first quality start of the season.
- To close out the weekend, freshman John Paone will be handed the rock. The right-hander from Massachusetts is 1-1 with a 4.79 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 20.2 innings of work.
- Out of the bullpen, grad student Lucas Hartman is tied for first in the nation with 13 appearances, while Tyler Kapa’s four saves are good enough for 11th nationally.
RANKING THE HOOS
- After a historic start to the 2026 campaign, Virginia ranks top 40 nationally in multiple categories including walks (143/6th), hits (219/28th), home runs (42/5th), home runs per game (1.91/9th), runs (223/9th), scoring (10.1/11th) and slugging percentage (.524/ 25th).
CLASH POINT SECURED
- For the opening home weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from in-commonwealth rival Virginia Tech at Disharoon Park.
- In game one, UVA rode a career-high performance from Henry Zatkowski as the lefty fanned 10 Hokies. The Virginia office exploded for eight runs over the middle third to take the series opener.
- To claim the series, four different Cavaliers homered, led by Sam Harris, who did it twice, as Virginia got a trio of shutdown innings from Kevin Jaxel and Noah Yoder in relief.
- The Saturday series clincher gave Virginia a share of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. UVA exited the weekend leading 11-4, with seven sports remaining.
CAROLINA CONQUERED
- For the opening weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 29-13 during the weekend set.
- In game one, UVA rode monster offensive performances from Harrison Didawick, Noah Murray and Eric Becker to a 13-3 victory in seven innings. Henry Zatkowski held North Carolina to five hits over 5.1 innings of work.
- To claim the series, Max Stammel had his best game in a Virginia uniform, surrendering one run in six innings. Zach Jackson and Sam Harris each homered in the 9-2 victory.
SPRING CLEANING
- On the third weekend of the season, Virginia swept the VCU Rams in a three-game series that saw the first two games played at Disharoon Park with the finale at The Diamond in Richmond.
- UVA took the series opener by a score of 5-3 and was powered by a career-high eight-strikeout performance by Henry Zatkowski and a leadoff home run from Eric Becker.
- Saturday’s game two saw UVA win its first walk of the season as the Cavaliers won 7-6 in 11 innings. AJ Gracia homered while Eric Becker was in the middle of the game-tying play in the ninth and the walk-off in the 11th.
- Sunday’s series finale included eight innings of one-run ball from the freshman trio of John Paone, Noah Yoder and Jayden Stroman. Gracia, Sam Harris and Zach Jackson all homered to secure the sweep.
FUN IN THE SUN
- For the first road trip of the 2026 season, Virginia headed south for a round robin tournament hosted by Stetson. The Hoos dismantled the Monmouth Hawks on Friday before falling in walk-off fashion to Stetson on Saturday. UVA rode late-inning heroics to a victory over North Dakota State in the weekend finale on Sunday.
- On Friday, the Hoos smashed seven home runs en route to a 21-8 win over Monmouth. The seven dingers were the most by UVA in a game since hitting eight against George Washington in 2024.
- In the weekend opener against Monmouth, the UVA trio of Noah Murray, Sam Harris and AJ Gracia each hit multiple home runs, becoming the first trio of Cavaliers to hit multiple home runs in the same game this century.
BREAKING IN THE NEW VIDEO BOARD
- To accompany the debuts on Davenport Field, a new state-of-the-art video board also made its debut on opening weekend, displaying plenty of content.
- Over the course of the opening weekend, UVA plated 69 runners in three games—the most ever in a three-game stretch to start a season. The previous high was set in 1889, when the baseball team representing the University of Virginia scored 59 runs in the first three games ever played.
- The weekend was capped off by a 31-8 victory in the Saturday nightcap. The 31 runs broke the previous program for most runs in a game, which was when the Hoos dropped 29 runs on Niagara in 2007.
- Crozet native Noah Murray broke the run record with a three-run blast in the eighth inning. With the home run, Murray became the 15th Cavalier to score five times in the same time.
- Chris Pollard became just the third head coach in program history to win his first three games. The other two coaches were H.H. Lannigan in 1918 and Brian O’Connor in 2004.